Fate Worse Than Death
by NinjaDevil2000
Summary: Barty Crouch Jr's demise at the hands of a dementor.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. After reading all about dementors though, I'm not sure if I'd want to.

Author's Note: Hey guys! I really really hope you like the story! Enjoy and please please review! They really make me happy and they spur me on to more writing. Also, I just want the judge of my story to know that dementor isn't capitalized. I thought it was and so checked the book, but it turns out that it isn't. I don't want to get ducked points for that.

Written for IWSC, Round 6

School and Year: Mahoutokoro, Year 2

Theme: Avada Kedavra - Death (I portrayed it as the dementor's kiss)

Main Prompt: Dementor

Additional Prompts: Stunning and Azkaban

Word count: 1371

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Winky continued sobbing at Crouch's side as Madam Pomfrey came and retrieved Moody's unconscious form from the trunk. She conjured a stretcher and lifted Moody's body onto it with her wand.

"Poppy," began Professor McGonagall, her eyes never leaving Crouch, "will you take the elf with you?" Madam Pomfrey nodded mutely and attempted to move the elf, but Winky clung to Crouch as though her life depended on it. Her agonizing cries split the air as the matron tried to remove her, so eventually, Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at the elf and stunned her. Madam Pomfrey picked Winky up, gently laid her on the stretcher next to Moody, then left hurriedly, leading the stretcher down to the Hospital Wing. Through his half-closed eyes, Crouch could dimly see the form of the Transfiguration teacher. She was holding her wand aloft, pointing it at him. Crouch could hear footsteps approaching the office from the opposite side of the closed door, and the voices that accompanied them were talking hastily.

One was angry and insistent, while the other was defensive and irritated, but he couldn't distinguish the words being spoken. Crouch recognized both voices as the door opened. He opened his eyes fully, grinning maniacally at the two people.

"Merlin's beard!" gasped Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. He stood frozen in the doorway, shocked by the sight of someone who was thought to be long dead. Snape stood behind him, staring belligerently at Crouch.

"I tried to tell you, Minister," Snape hissed coldly down the back of Fudge's neck.

"Do you think we could get on with it, Minister?" asked McGonagall quietly, her voice catching in her throat and her wand hand trembling slightly, "So that we can get this monster out of my school?"

"What - what do you expect me to do with him?" Fudge spluttered. Snape and McGonagall exchanged exasperated looks. They both knew Fudge to be a pompous and stubborn man, as well as quite unqualified for the title of Minister of Magic.

"Well, why don't you interrogate him?" Snape hissed again, pushing past Fudge and aiming his wand at Crouch as well.

"You should hear what this man has to say about the Dark Lord returning to power," Snape continued, pulling another vial of Veritaserum from his pocket and holding it out to Fudge.

"I - well - perhaps," Fudge stuttered, still standing in the doorway, before pulling out his wand. However, he did not approach Crouch. Instead, pointed his wand behind him and muttered, _"Accio dementor!"_

"What are you doing?" McGonagall screeched, her wand hand shaking even more and lowering slightly. "Do not bring one of those creatures into this school! You are endangering my students!" Fudge took a step forward, warily glancing at Crouch as he did so, and focused a stern gaze on McGonagall.

"Professor," Fudge began in what he hoped was a polite tone, "I am the Minister of Magic! I may do whatever I please to ensure my safety!"

"You are not in danger!" Snape said loudly, ignoring Crouch, who had begun cackling with mad laughter. "He is bound and has wands on him. Give this to him!" Snape thrusted the Veritaserum under Fudge's nose. "Let him tell you of his master and the Dark Lord's return to power! Let him tell you of how he killed his father! Let him tell you of how he handed Potter over to the Dark Lord with the intention of killing him!"

"Rubbish!" Fudge exclaimed over Crouch's laughs, which were becoming louder and more taunting. "You-Know-Who returned to power? Ha!"

"Then how do you explain Diggory's death? How do you explain Potter's injuries? How do you plan to explain _this_ to Diggory's parents?" McGonagall screeched into Fudge's face. "Oh, shut up, you!" she added fiercely to the laughing prisoner, stunning him into silence. Fudge stepped back slightly, shocked by the rage and incredulousness in her voice and actions, then merely shook his head.

"Hear what he has to say then!" Snape said finally, having his fill of Fudge's denial. He pulled the stopper out from the little bottle, tilted Crouch's head back, and poured the truth potion down his throat. But he did so a second too late, for just as the last drop of potion dripped down out of the bottle, it arrived. A dementor.

It was chilling, slimy, and had scabbed hands. Its raspy breath made the occupants of the room shiver. The decomposing, corpse-like creature was covered in torn, dirty robes. It hovered there in the office, relishing in the happy memories of the occupants. Fudge shivered and flourished his wand, attempting to conjure a Patronus. He seemed unable to do it, however. Professor McGonagall was fighting against the cold and her depressing feelings as well, but she managed to conjure a Patronus, perhaps weaker than usual, but a Patronus nonetheless. The silver cat glided through the air, suddenly making the office slightly warmer. It weaved around her and between her legs, as Snape finally succeeded in producing a Patronus as well. He purposefully cast an incorporeal Patronus, however, as he did so most often. The shield enclosed around him, making the office slightly less chilly; the dementor drew back from the silver guardians.

As McGonagall regained her voice, still struggling to keep a hold of her Patronus, she turned her menacing gaze upon Fudge. "What are you doing?" she asked furiously. "Interrogate this man! Expel this creature, get answers from this murderer, then send him to Azkaban to rot for his crimes!"

"He lies!" Fudge exclaimed, though it was weak. "You lie! You-Know-Who has not returned! You believe this - this lunatic and - and a fourteen year old boy!"

"Why would Potter say that the Dark Lord had returned?" Snape hissed. "Do you think Potter killed Diggory?"

Fudge muttered shakily, "No, of course not! But - but who's to say that Potter couldn't - couldn't –"

"Couldn't what, Minister?" McGonagall screeched again.

"Well, you know –" Fudge began, shivering from the dementor's cold.

"I know Potter well," McGonagall began, her voice lowering slightly but still extremely angry. "He would never hurt Diggory. He is a kind and fair boy."

_"Like his mother,"_ Snape added wordlessly.

"Perhaps you were misled!" Fudge shouted, looking angrier than Snape or McGonagall had ever seen him look.

"Take him," Fudge said, without warning. Pulling down its hood, the dementor swooped. Its empty eye sockets were revealed momentarily, as well as a gaping hole of a mouth. It dove down onto Crouch like a vulture and clamped its jaws on its victim's mouth. McGonagall gasped in horror, and the silver cat flickered and died, as did Snape's guardian shield. He tried to conjure it again, but the horrifying sight before him prevented it. McGonagall drew away towards the wall, while Snape stayed still, paling.

Snape was horrified. He had seen many dreadful things, but none had ever been as bad as this. The dementor sucked dryly as its decaying hands held Crouch's head steady. A rotting smell filled the room as the Kiss continued. The dementor's cloak fluttered as it finally withdrew, looking, if it were possible, more frightening and more dreadful than it had before.

Crouch was still sitting in the chair. His eyes were open, and he breathed, but he was no longer alive. Saliva dripped from his open mouth, as his body, as if in slow motion, fell limp. He was empty. Alive . . . yet empty.

Fudge looked as if he might be sick as he dispelled the monstrous soul sucker with a feeble Patronus of his own. The warmth of the room slowly returned, but the cold feelings of dread, despondence, and death lingered within Snape and McGonagall.

"What have you done?" McGonagall muttered weakly, looking back to Fudge with a horrified gaze. Fudge was silent and looked angry, yet calm at the same time.

"I must see Dumbledore," he said. Fudge swept from the room. Snape looked at McGonagall, who looked back. They were both terrified and furious. Snape scowled as he and McGonagall followed Fudge, leaving Crouch's body behind. And, along with it, the truth. Snape could only say and think one thing, while he and McGonagall walked behind Fudge.

"He just doomed us all."


End file.
